This Informational Publication has beenmodified and superseded by IP 2001(30)

IP 2000(20)

Connecticut Tax Tips for Senior Citizens

PURPOSE: This publication is designed to acquaint you with Connecticut taxes. Information on income tax and sales tax, as well as succession, gift, real estate conveyance, and local property taxes, is included in this publication. To order forms or publications or to get help, follow the instructions below.

PART I. INCOME TAX

The Connecticut income tax applies to Connecticut residents, part-year residents, and nonresidents who have income from Connecticut sources. (To determine your residency status, see the Connecticut income tax instruction booklets.) The tax is computed on your Connecticut taxable income.

Income Tax Return: The Connecticut income tax return for calendar year filers is due on or before April 17, 2001, for the 2000 taxable year. You may be required to file an income tax return even if you do not owe any tax. Information on filing requirements is included in all Connecticut income tax instruction booklets. Residents must file Form CT-1040, Form CT-1040EZ or Form CT-1040EZ Telefile. Nonresidents and part-year residents must file Form CT-1040NR/PY.

To compute your Connecticut taxable income, subtract your personal exemption from your Connecticut adjusted gross income. If your Connecticut adjusted gross income is less than or equal to the maximum personal exemption amount for your filing status, you do not owe any Connecticut income tax.

Maximum exemption amounts are:

$12,000

married filing separatelyFor every $1,000 (or part of $1,000) of Connecticut adjusted gross income over $24,000, the personal exemption amount is reduced by $1,000.

$12,250

single filersFor every $1,000 (or part of $1,000) of Connecticut adjusted gross income over $24,500, the personal exemption amount is reduced by $1,000.

$19,000

head of householdFor every $1,000 (or part of $1,000) of Connecticut adjusted gross income over $38,000, the personal exemption amount is reduced by $1,000.

$24,000

married filing jointlyFor every $1,000 (or part of $1,000) of Connecticut adjusted gross income over $48,000, the personal exemption amount is reduced by $1,000.

Tax Rate: For the 2000 taxable year and thereafter, the tax rate is 3% on the first:

$10,000 of Connecticut taxable income for single filers and married taxpayers filing separately;

$16,000 of Connecticut taxable income for head of household filers; and

$20,000 of Connecticut taxable income for married taxpayers filing jointly.The remaining income is taxed at 4.5%

Credits: You may be eligible for a personal tax credit of between 1% and 75%, depending on your income level. The credit is incorporated into the income tax tables. (See Table C in the Connecticut income tax instruction booklets if you are using the tax calculation schedule to compute your income tax liability.)

Resident individuals make take a property tax credit against their Connecticut income tax liability for property taxes paid to a Connecticut political subdivision on a primary residence or on a motor vehicle, or both. Generally, this credit is allowed for property tax bills first becoming due during 2000 and paid during 2000.

This credit is also allowed for second or later installments of property tax paid during 2000, if the first installment first became due during 2000. The maximum credit allowed for the 2000 taxable year is $500 per return. Supplemental property tax bills first becoming due during 2000 and paid during 2000 also qualify for this credit. However, the payment of any delinquent property tax bills or the payment of any interest, fees or charges related to the property tax bill do not qualify for this credit.

If you paid more than $100 in qualifying property taxes, you may be subject to a limitation depending on your filing status and your Connecticut adjusted gross income. See Informational Publication 2000(23), Q & A: Income Tax Credit for Property Taxes Paid to a Connecticut Political Subdivision, for more information.

Computing Your Income Tax: The following example shows how to compute the income tax liability for the 2000 taxable year for a resident married couple filing jointly. The tax is rounded to the nearest whole dollar.

CT adjusted gross income

$45,000

Personal exemption

-24,000

CT taxable income

$21,000

Calculation of Tax

Income taxable at 3%

$20,000

Tax rate

x . 03

Tax at 3%

$600

Income taxable at 4.5%

$1,000

Tax rate

x . 045

Tax at 4.5%

$45

Total tax

$645

Personal tax credit(total tax of $645 X 15% from Table C)

-97

Tax due (before deducting anyproperty tax credit)

$548

Income Subject to Tax: Income included in your federal adjusted gross income generally is subject to Connecticut income tax. Income excluded from your federal adjusted gross income generally is not subject to Connecticut income tax. For example, interest from Connecticut state or local bonds is not subject to federal or Connecticut income tax. Likewise, the gain from the sale of your primary residence is subject to Connecticut income tax only to the extent that it is subject to federal income tax.

Modifications to Federal Adjusted Gross Income: Certain income is treated differently for Connecticut income tax purposes than it is for federal income tax purposes. If you have such income, you must make modifications (additions or subtractions) to your federal adjusted gross income to compute your Connecticut adjusted gross income. These modifications are explained fully in the instructions to Schedule 1, Form CT-1040, Connecticut Resident Income Tax Return, and Form CT-1040NR/PY, Connecticut Nonresident or Part-Year Resident Income Tax Return. If you have income from U.S. government obligations, such as U.S. Savings Bonds or Treasury Notes, or income from bonds issued by another state, you must complete Schedule 1 to make the appropriate modification. Remember: You generally cannot use Form CT-1040EZ or Form CT-1040EZ Telefile if you are required to make a modification to federal adjusted gross income. You must use Form CT-1040 or Form CT-1040NR/PY.

Social Security Benefit Adjustment: Social Security recipients who pay federal income tax on their benefits may be able to reduce the amount of benefits that are taxable for Connecticut income tax purposes by completing the Social Security Benefit Adjustment Worksheet included with Form CT-1040 or Form CT-1040NR/PY.

For taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 1999, Social Security recipients whose filing status is: Single or Married Filing Separately and report a federal adjusted gross income of less than $50,000, or Married Filing Jointly or Head of Household and report a federal adjusted gross income of less than $60,000, are not subject to Connecticut income tax on federally taxable Social Security benefits.

Estimated Income Tax Filing Requirements: You must make estimated Connecticut income tax payments if your Connecticut income tax (after tax credits) minus Connecticut income tax withheld is more than $500, and you expect your Connecticut income tax withheld to be less than your required annual payment. Estimated payments are generally made in four equal installments: April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15. If your income varies throughout the year, however, you may be able to reduce or eliminate the amount of one or more estimated payments by using the annualized installment method. See Informational Publication 99(35),Estimated Connecticut Income Taxes, and Informational Publication 99(33),A Guide to Calculating Your Annualized Estimated Income Tax Installments, for more information.

Withholding from Your Pension: If you are a resident and receive a pension, you may be able to have Connecticut income tax withheld from your pension payments. Contact your pension payer and ask for Form CT-W4P, Withholding Certificate for Pension or Annuity Payments. Retired federal civil service employees must contact the United States Office of Personnel Management (USOPM) to start, stop or change Connecticut income tax withholding. Call USOPM at 1-800-409-6528 to use the automated request system or 1-202-606-0500 to speak with a representative.

If you are a nonresident and receive a pension, your pension is not subject to Connecticut income tax, even if a former employer pays you a pension for services performed while you were employed in Connecticut.

PART II. SALES AND USE TAXES

There are no special exemptions from the sales tax for senior citizens. However, some examples of items and services that are not subject to sales or use taxes are:

Clothing and footwear items costing under $75 each;

Clothing under $300 nontaxable for one week per year. Each year, from the third Sunday in August through the following Saturday, most items of clothing and footwear costing less than $300 each will not be taxable.

Current United States and Connecticut flags;

Diabetic supplies (test strips and tablets, lancets and glucose monitoring equipment, and repair and replacement parts for such equipment);

Labor for many home repairs and services including plumbing, electrical, refuse removal, and septic cleaning services. However, the following renovation services to residential property are subject to sales and use taxes at 2% until July 1, 2001, and are nontaxable thereafter: painting, staining, paving, roofing, wallpapering, siding, and exterior sheet metal work;

Landscaping and horticulture services, window cleaning, and maintenance services when rendered at the residence of a person eligible to receive, and currently receiving, total disability benefits under the Social Security Act;

Repair and maintenance services to vessels and fabrication labor to existing vessels;

Personal property used in a burial or cremation with a value of up to $2,500;

Caskets used for burial (exempt on or after July 1, 2001).

Discounts: When a senior citizen discount or other discount is offered on a taxable item, the sales tax is applied to the discounted price.

Coupons: A coupon entitles a purchaser to an immediate reduction in the sales price of an item when the coupon is presented to a retailer. No additional action is required of the purchaser.

Sales and use taxes are calculated on the sales price after reducing the price by the value of any coupons presented. Any additional value assigned by the retailer, such as to double or triple the coupon, is also excluded from the sales price.

For example, if the original price of an item is $3.00 and you present a coupon for 50 cents off the item, the taxable price is $2.50. The total price of the item, including the sales tax, is $2.65.

In contrast, rebates do not reduce the taxable sales price of an item being purchased. See Policy Statement 98(1.1), Sales Tax Treatment of Coupons, Scan Cards, Cash Equivalents, Promotional Items and Rebates, for additional information.

Use Tax: When the seller of goods or provider of taxable services does not collect the sales tax, you must pay use tax. You must file a use tax return annually to report purchases of goods or services on which Connecticut sales tax was not paid.

Typically, if you purchased goods from mail order or catalog companies and had the goods shipped to Connecticut or you purchased goods at out-of-state locations and brought those goods back into Connecticut you must pay Connecticut use tax if you did not pay Connecticut sales tax. You must pay the use tax for purchases you made during the prior calendar year on either your Connecticut income tax return or on Form OP-186, Connecticut Individual Use Tax, on or before April 15.

PART III. SUCCESSION TAX

The Connecticut succession tax began to be phased out in 1997 and is scheduled for total repeal in 2005. There is a total exemption from Connecticut succession tax if the entire estate passes to a surviving spouse. For estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2001, any part of the net taxable estate passing to Class A beneficiaries will no longer be subject to the tax. For a resident decedent's estate, the tax applies to all property, except for real property and tangible personal property located outside Connecticut. For a nonresident decedent's estate, the tax applies only to real property and tangible personal property located in Connecticut. The tax rate depends on the relationship of the beneficiary to the decedent and the size of the estate. For information and tax tables for estates of decedents dying after 1996, see Special Notice 95(18),1995 Legislative Changes Affecting the Succession and Transfer Taxes and the Estate Tax.

PART IV. GIFT TAX

Residents are taxed on all gifts of intangible property and on gifts of real property and tangible personal property located in Connecticut. Nonresidents are taxed on gifts of real and tangible personal property located in Connecticut.

Gifts of a present interest to any particular donee during the calendar year are not subject to the Connecticut gift tax unless the value of all the gifts to the donee during the calendar year exceeds $10,000. Transfers of future interests are not covered by the annual exclusion. (The annual exclusion amount is indexed for inflation after 1998 for federal and Connecticut gift tax purposes. However, there is no adjustment to the annual exclusion amount for 1999 or 2000.)

If both spouses are citizens or residents of the United States at the time of the gift, and both spouses consent and make an election for federal gift tax purposes, all gifts made to third parties during the calendar year, whether made by one spouse alone or made partly by each spouse, are considered as made one-half by each spouse. Thus, the first $20,000 of gifts of a present interest in property to any donee by consenting spouses during the calendar year are not subject to tax.

To split the gift, the spouses must be legally married to each other at the time of the gift. If they are divorced during the year, they still may split the gift as long as neither marries anyone else during the year. In addition, both must be citizens or residents of the United States on the date of the gift.

If you give a gift, you may be required to file federal Form 709, United States Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return and Form CT-709, Connecticut Gift Tax Return. If both spouses consent and an election is made to gift split, each spouse must file his or her own Form CT-709.

The special valuation rules under I.R.C. §§2701 to 2704 (dealing with transfers to or for the benefit of family members) apply for Connecticut gift tax purposes. For example, if a donor delivers a deed transferring title to his home to his children but reserving a life use, the value of the gift equals the sum of the value of the life estate and the value of the remainder interest (that is, the full fair market value of the home). Because this is a transfer of a future interest, no annual exclusion is allowed.

See Informational Publication 99(9),A Guide to the Federal and Connecticut Gift Taxes, and the instruction booklet for Form CT-709, Connecticut Gift Tax Return, for more information.

PART V. REAL ESTATE CONVEYANCE TAX

A state and municipal real estate conveyance tax is imposed on deeds conveying an interest in realty where the consideration for the interest in property equals or exceeds $2,000. A deed for no consideration or for less than $2,000 in consideration is exempt from this tax, but may be subject to the gift tax. A deed of the principal residence of a person receiving property tax benefits for the elderly is exempt from the state tax but subject to the municipal tax.

PART VI. LOCAL PROPERTY TAXES

Homeowner/Renter Tax Credit: An annual property tax credit or rent rebate is available to residents, age 65 or older, or to a surviving spouse, age 50 or older, who meet certain residence and income requirements. Regardless of age, a totally and permanently disabled person is also eligible. Contact the assessor in your town or city hall for details and forms.

Veteran Exemption: A variable, annual tax exemption on the assessed value of an owner-occupied dwelling or on a motor vehicle is available to any qualified veteran or surviving spouse. Contact the assessor in your town or city hall for details and forms for any of the above.